Roundabout



2 Sheets Sheet 1.

@No Model.)

WORTH.

G. KAY, F. WILKINSON & I. RUSH RUUNDABOUT. I

Patented Jan. 16, 1894..

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WASHINETON. D. G.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE KAY, FRED WILKINSON, AND ISAAC RUSHWORTH, OF J AMESTOWN,

NEW YORK.

' o'uN DABOUT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,710, dated January16, 1894. Application filed August 25, 1892. Serial No. 444,093. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE KAY, FRED WILKINSON, and IsAAo RUSHWORTH,citizens of the United States, residing at Jamestown, in the county ofChautauqua and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulRoundabout, of which the following is aspecification. j

Our invention relates to improvements in roundabouts or merry-go-rounds,and has tion with the drawings, and the points of novelty are set forthin the appended claims. In the drawings:Figure 1 is a plan view of aroundabout embodying our improvemerits, and showing four seats; namely,two boats, a horse, and a chariot, and Fig. 2 is a front-view of thesame, showing the horse in the foreground and the boats in endelevation. Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the boats, showing themechanism connected therewith.

Fig. at is an end view, partly broken away,of

details of construction which enter thereinto,

the same. Fig. 5 is an inverted plan view of the boat, showing theadjusting disk and spindle. Fig. 6 isa detail view of the pivotedadjusting bar.

A represents the base of the device, at the center of which is arrangeda vertical post, B, around which the rotary frame, comprising,essentially, the radial beams, O O, revolves.

The flooring of the rotary frame, and the form no part of our invention,and are, therefore, omitted in the drawings, and only the skeleton ofthe device is illustrated.

In order to avoid the shafting from the center post to the periphery ofthe rotary frame,

ordinarilynecessitated by placing a circular rack around and adjacent tosaid post, we employ a toothed-track, D, arranged on the base near itsperiphery, said track consisting of a rack, d, set in a groove 01',smooth hearing or friction surfaces, 61, d, being located upon oppositesides of the groove.

The track-wheel,E, which is shown beneath each of the boats, is mountedin bearings, ff, in the hanger F, which depends from the extremity ofone of the radial beams, C, said wheel being provided with a toothedrib, G, to travel in the groove of the track and engage the rack locatedtherein, and also provided, upon opposite sides of the toothed rib withbearing flanges, G G, to bear upon the smooth surfaces of the track. Theshaft of the track-wheel carries a worm, H, which meshes with aworm-gear, H, carried by a horizontal shaft, h, at right angles to theshaft of the track-wheel, said shaft, h, being supported by hangers, KK, depending from the radial beam. The shaft, h, carries at itsextremities, revoluble disks, L L, which are connected, at eccentricpoints, by means of connecting rods,M M, to the boat. Thejoints betweenthe lower ends of the connecting rods and the disks and the upper endsof said rods and the boat are of the kind known as universal or balljoints.

The boat is provided upon its under surface with a spindle, N, mountedin bearings, O O, which are secured to cars, 10 p, projecting verticallyfrom the upper side of an adjusting bar, or plate, P, mounted upon theupper side of the radial beam, above mentioned. This adjusting bar, orplate, is pivoted at its center to the beam, as seen at p, and isprovided near its ends with slots, 10, p", concentric with said pivot,and adapted to receive engaging bolts, Q Q, whereby the bar or plate maybe clamped in a position parallel with the beam or at an angle thereto,for a'purpose to be hereinafter explained. The spindle,'N, abovementioned, is carried by an adjusting disk, R, which is secured to thebottom of the boat, a'wear-plate, R, being interposed between the diskand the boat. This disk is provided with concentric slots,r a", to beengaged by adjusting screws or bolts, S S, which are secured rigidly inthe wearplate. j

It will be understood that when the spindle N is arranged transverselyto the boat the action of the revoluble disks will cause the boat topitch, vertically, at its extremities. When, however, the adjusting bar,or plate, is turned at an angle to the radial-beam, the boat beingretained in its proper position at right angles to said beam by turningthe adjusting disk so as to accommodate the position of the spindle, themotion received by the boat will be a combination of a pitch and a roll,the sides rising and falling alternately ,at the same time that the endsare rising and falling.

Any desired degree of rolling motion may be attained by the relativeadjustment of the bar or plate, P, and disk.

From the above description it will be seen that the gearing by which themovement is imparted to the various seats, or figures, is arranged nearthe periphery of the rotating frame, thus avoiding the additional weightwhich is necessary when the power is derived from gearing located at, ornear, the central post. Furthermore,when arranged as hereindescribed,the gearing is more easily reached for repairs, 850., and the motion ofthe figures is more positive from the shortness of connections andsimplicity of gearing.

Further advantages derived from the arrangement of the gearingconsisting of a rackrail and a track-wheel, at or near the periphery ofthe rotatable frame, are that torsional elasticity, such as is found inthe radial bars or rods by which the motion is communicated from thecentral gearing to the extremities of the frame-work, is avoided, andthat the communication of motion is direct and positive, thus preventingthe bending and straining of the parts of the structure.

In Fig. 4.- the track having the bearing-surfaces upon opposite sides ofthe rack is shown in connection with the wheel having bearingsurfaces,whereby the teeth are prevented from meshing too deep.

Either one or more bearing-surfaces may be employed.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim,and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. In a roundabout, the combination with a rotatable framework, means torotate the same, and bearing-wheels engaging a suitable track, ofhorizontal spindles mounted in bearings upon the framework, boatspivotally mounted upon said spindles to swing in a plane paralleltherewith and adapted to rock therewith in a vertical plane, means forlocking the boats at any desired angular adjustment with relation totheir spindles, and operating connections between the boats and thewheels whereby a rocking motion is imparted to the former, substantiallyas specified.

gular adjustment with relation to the radii of theframework, boatspivotally mounted upon said spindles and capable of angular adjustmentwith relation to the spindles, and means for connecting the boats to thewheels whereby a rocking motion is imparted to the former, substantiallyas specified.

3. In aroundabout, the combination with a rotatable framework,bearingwheels, and means to rotate the framework, of adjustable bars orplates secured to the framework and provided with bearings, boatsprovided with adjustable disks attached to their bottoms, spindlesattached to said disks and mounted inthe said bearings, and means forconnecting the boats to the bearing-wheels, substantially as specified.

4. In a roundabout, the combination, with the rotating frame-work, ofadjusting bars, or plates, secured thereto and carrying bearings, theboats, the adjustable disks secured to the bottoms of the boats andprovided with spindles mounted in said bearings, the trackwheels runningupon toothed-tracks and carrying aworm,the shafts carrying Worm-gears toengage said worms and provided with revoluble disks, and connecting-rodsbetween said disks and the extremities of the boats, and connectedthereto byuniversal joints, substantially as specified.

5. In a roundabout, the combination with a 5 rotatable frame-work, meansto rotate the same, and bearing Wheels engaging a suitable track, ofhorizontal spindles mounted in bearings upon the framework approximatelyparallel to the radii of the latter and capable of angular adjustmentwith relation thereto,

boats pivotally mounted upon said spindles and capable of angularadjustment with relation thereto in planes parallel with the spindles,means for locking the boats at any desired angular adjustment, andconnections between said bearing wheels and the boats, substantially asspecified.

In testimony that we claim the forcgoin g as ourown we have heretoaffixed out-signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE KAY. FRED WILKINSON. ISAAC RUSHWORTH.

Witnesses:

R. M. WISE, T. K. FELCH.

